Saturday, January 12, 2008

Dumb entertainment reporter theater

It's a common mistake. John Cusack is often mistaken for... Kevin Spacey.

Do your homework, people! Or at least go to a movie.

Sunday night I will be on KABC radio again from 7-10, talking sports. If I have time after analyzing the latest AMERICAN GLADIATORS I might even get into the NFL playoffs. But I dunno. I only have three hours.

This is the night 24 was supposed to premiere. For those fans who need a fix, tomorrow I will reveal what was supposed to happen. Okay, I may take a "few" liberties but I'm sure I'm pretty close.

17 comments
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Maybe she watched MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL when she was a kid and mixed up the names of the two actors. Hmmm... that was a great movie. At least she didn't think he was the Lady Chablis.

Watched Real Time with Bill Maher last night. He clearly had written most of his monologue and was reading it off a teleprompter. He ended the show with a rant about the strike. Said he loved his writers and missed them but resented the witch hunt and the name calling from the WGA. Went on to say that the leadership of the WGA was misguided and perhaps this was "The wrong strike at the wrong time and that maybe it wasn't winnable" I've always know Bill Maher was an asshole but at least his politics and common sense were sound. How can he be so blind and callous? I think it comes down to pure selfishness and a refusal to see the bigger picture.

Jon Stewart is breaking my heart. His show was a refuge -- a place for my outrage against the insanity of the world. But now, every night, I watch with dismay as his written material increases. It feels like such a betrayal. I'll continue to watch but, like a girlfriend you love who cheats on you, it'll never the same again.

Oh and BTW. To the posters on the previous days comment section -- The Daily Show is NOT as funny as it was with the writers. Even my 11 year old daughter, unprompted and vaguely aware of the strike, said so.

My favorite part was this "reporter" totally missing the quizzical look on his face at the first mention of American Beauty. "Why is that funny?" should have been her first tip-off. That and the fact that John Cusack looks nothing like Kevin Spacey.

As for Jon Stewart, I'm not sure about the legalities/strike etiquette, but isn't John Oliver allowed to write for him because of the deportation issue? I know the Oliver segment Thursday night was taped before the strike - he's walking a thin line, but I'm not sure he's fallen off yet.

I was at USC for a while, and you don't see me slamming all the Hollywood-challenged kids at UCLA. Seriously, the only difference between a student at each of the two universities is that they were both accepted by UCLA.

There was a time in the 90s when John Cusack and Jon Cryer and Matthew Broderick looked like each other in some of their roles. I also saw Al Pacino in something once, but remembered him as Dustin Hoffman, so mistakes can be made.

This reminds me of the Robert Altman film, The Player, in the opening scene. The kid who delivers studio mail sees the director Alan Rudolph and calls him Martin Scorcese.

Years back I was working on a press junket for OLD GRINGO, which starred Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda. Both were at the junket. An interviewer came in to talk to Peck ... obviously a true Hollywood icon and a very sweet man. Her first question, after giggling, was ... How do you memorize a script? Strange question but Peck, being a gentleman, answered as best he could. She then proceeded to sit there, with a dumb smile on her face and announce "Well, that's all I have." For Gregory Peck. One stupid question. Her producer, from off camera, jumped in and asked the rest of the questions and Peck answered, looking at her. Amazingly stupid girl. By the way, she later went on to marry a very well known interviewer currently on the air. But my lips are sealed.

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Named one of the BEST 25 BLOGS by TIME Magazine. Ken Levine is an Emmy winning writer/director/producer/major league baseball announcer. In a career that has spanned over 30 years Ken has worked on MASH, CHEERS, FRASIER, THE SIMPSONS, WINGS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, BECKER, DHARMA & GREG, and has co-created three series. He and his partner wrote the feature VOLUNTEERS. Ken has also been the radio/TV play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres. and Dodger Talk. He hosts the podcast HOLLYWOOD & LEVINE

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